On 18 July 2021, google pays honor to the work and life of Kadambini Ganguly on her 160th birthday through a doodle. She is one of the first female doctor from India.
Kadambini Ganguly was born on July 18, 1861 and was the first woman to receive admission in Calcutta Medical College in 1884. In the late 19th century, it was an exceptional feat as the institution was attended only by men then.
Along with Anandibai Joshi who belonged from Mumbai, Ganguly established a successful medical practice for women in the country. Ganguly and Joshi both gained their degrees in medicine in the year 1886. Kadambini Ganguly graduated from Calcutta Medical College and Anandibai Joshi obtained her degree from Women’s medical college of Pennsylvania in US. Unfortunately, Joshi’s career came to an end soon due to her untimely death in 1887 at the age of 21.
In 1886, Ganguly achieved the mark of being the first practicing lady physicians in south Asia trained in European medicine. After three years, she became the first woman to be on the dais of an Indian National Congress session. In the year 1892, she went to the United Kingdom to obtain further training from Dublin, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. After returning, she joined the Lady Dufferin Hospital in Kolkata, starting her career as a gynecologists’. At the hospital, she continued with her practice till she breadth her last on October 3,1923.
At the time when the cultural and social discourse of the country was completely dominated by the male, Kadambini Ganguly initiated the way for women’s liberation.
On the personal front, she was the second wife of Dwarakanath Ganguly. He was a prominent Brahmo Samaj leader.
The Google doodle was designed by a Bengaluru based artist Oddrija. She expressed that representing the young spirited woman who was a frontrunner in her contribution to medical infrastructure in India, is a ‘proud moment for a Bengali.’
She further stated notifying the COVID 19 situation and contribution of medical fraternity, “Looking back in time, Kadambini Ganguly was a frontrunner in her contribution in medical infrastructure in India with her indomitable spirit and inquisitiveness that landed her triple diploma in her studies in Western Medicine.”
